The Keto Diet Podcast Ep. #045: Creating a Carb Up Practice

Interview with Maritza Ahn, chatting about her firsthand experience developing a carb up practice. From what she eats on a carb up, the fears she had to overcome in order to move forward with her carb ups, the failures she’s had while developing the practice, signs that point to having too many carbs on a cyclical ketogenic practice, her ketone numbers after a carb up, and more.

Carb ups. I couldn’t do keto without them. Think of them as a tool you have in your back pocket when you’re out with friends, feeling a little flat, or interested in boosting your fasting practice (incorporating a carb up practice helps reset leptin which will extend your fast the next day), regulating your thyroid (carbohydrates are used for thyroid hormone conversion), and more.

I’m guessing if you’ve been keto for a while, you’re thinking adding carbs to your ketogenic diet would ruin all the hard work you’ve put into it. But, you couldn’t be more false. In today’s podcast episode, I’m joined by a fellow keto-er as we discuss how our ketogenic diet and results have improved since eating more carbs.

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TRANSCRIPT FOR THIS EPISODE

Leanne Vogel: You’re listening to episode number 45 of the Keto Diet podcast. Today we’re chatting about the signs that point to you needing a carb up, how to overcome the fear of a cyclical ketogenic practice, and firsthand experience on carbing up and how to make it work for you. So, stay tuned.

Hey, I’m Leanne from HealthfulPursuit.com and this is The Keto Diet Podcast where we’re busting through the restrictive mentality of a traditional ketogenic diet to uncover the life you crave. What’s keto? Keto is a low carb high fat diet where we’re switching from a sugar burning state to becoming fat burning machines.

All listeners of the podcast receive a free seven-day keto meal plan complete with a shopping list and everything you need to chow down on keto for seven whole days. Download your free copy at HealthfulPursuit.com/ketomeal. The link will also be in the show notes for today’s episode. Perfect if your daily keto meals have become a bit lackluster, if you’re new to keto and a bit lost when it comes to eating what and how much, or thrive on being guided on what to do and when to do it. Again, that’s healthfulpursuit.com/ketomeal. Let’s get this party started.

Hey, guys. Happy Sunday. The show notes and full transcript for today’s episode can be found at HealthfulPursuit.com/podcast/e45. The transcript is added to the post about three to five days following the initial air date of this episode. Let’s hear from one of our awesome partners.

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If you have an idea for a podcast episode or you want to submit praise over and above the review, which you can leave by going to HealthfulPursuit.com/review. You can reach me at info@ketodietpodcast.com.

I have no announcements today, so we’re just going to cut over to introducing the guest. Our guest today is Maritza Ahn, who struggled for 18 years with body dysmorphia, calorie restriction, binging, purging, and during the last five years she struggled with depression.

With my Fat Fueled keto protocol, she went from 195 pounds to 130 pounds but, more importantly, beat the depression and regained a healthy relationship with her mind, body, and with food. She has been living a keto life for two years now and we wanted to have her on the show to talk one-on-one about her carb up experience, because I know that there are a lot of individuals out there that are kind of iffy about how to add a carb up practice to their life.

So, if you’re not familiar with what a carb up is, basically it’s when you eat low carb, high fat for a period of time and then you eat some carbs. Those carbs can be things like Paleo-friendly things like sweet potatoes, cassava, potatoes, any sort of fruit. You can go with the Paleo treats, you can go with pizza if you really want to, but you probably won’t feel the best. It just encourages you to have more of a natural relationship with your ketogenic diet.

Now, with carb ups, and something that I want to point to, if you’ve been told that you need a ketogenic diet by your doctor or healthcare team in order to heal something, I wouldn’t practice carb ups, just because your doctor or healthcare practitioner wants you on a strict ketogenic diet. The carb up conversation is more for people that are looking to gravitate toward a ketogenic diet for overall health and wellness.

If you are in that bucket, today’s show is for you. If you want more information about carb ups, there are two things that you can do right now. The first is, in the show notes I’ll include a link to a blog post that I created that has all of my resources on carb ups, what they are, how to eat, all of those things if you’re curious about this. If you want to go a step further, my program Fat Fueled is probably going to be the one for you where it talks about how to heal your body with a ketogenic diet, and using carb ups if you feel like it.

The third thing you can do, is that I’ve prepared a resource, which you can access at HealthfulPursuit.com/CarbUp, that includes over 100 carb up recipes of any carb up item you could ever think of. From grapes, to bananas, to sweet potato, and pumpkin, and just about everything in between. So, if you’re struggling on how to lower your fat, and also increase your carbs on a carb up practice, that is for you. So, let’s cut over to the interview.

Hey, Maritza. How’s it going?

Maritza Ahn: I’m good. Awesome.

Leanne Vogel: Thanks so much for coming on the show today.

Maritza Ahn: It’s my pleasure.

Leanne Vogel: So stoked. For listeners that may not be familiar with you and your story, how about you start out by telling us a little bit about yourself?

Maritza Ahn: I am 36 years old, and I have two kinds right now, five, and a two year old. I, just like every mother, struggled with the baby weight. But, in my case, because of 18 plus years of restriction, when I became pregnant I told myself I was not going to restrict because I really wanted that little bean to grow healthy. So, I ate everything and ended up gaining about 90 pounds on both pregnancies. It was quite a bit of a struggle to get that weight off, and of course after I had my first child, I went back to my usual ways of losing weight, which is heavy restriction, binging and purging, excessive exercise, and really just tiring myself out.

I think, with my first child, I struggled heavily with postpartum depression. It was really hard for me to kick, and they put me on antidepressants and birth control because they said it was a hormonal issue. When, finally I started thinking about having a second child, I really wanted to get myself healthy. So I started scouring the internet, and put myself on a gluten free diet, which is how I discovered you, searching for recipes. I felt a lot better off of gluten, but I still wasn’t doing keto.

But then I got pregnant again. While I was pregnant I discovered keto through you, and I decided I was definitely going to try it. I had my child and gave myself a good amount of time of nursing, and because I had struggled with postpartum depression before, I was just on edge I think the entire first six months after I delivered with my second child. I was waiting for it to come in. But I slowly started incorporating keto into my diet.

Not necessarily restricting on the carbohydrates, like eating high fat and eating very low glycemic carbs into it, and amazingly enough, after six months of just kind of doing that I decided to go a little more. A little stronger, and the weight just started melting off.

I think within the first year I had lost everything but the last ten pounds of my baby weight. I think the most amazing part of it all for me was the no postpartum depression, it just never creeped on. The keto just kept me very steady. Obviously you still had the emotional ups and downs of just having a baby, but nothing in comparison of what I had suffered from my first child. So, that’s pretty much my backstory.

Leanne Vogel: That’s awesome and to just kind of see that transition. How has keto changed since you first started to now? How has it changed for you from that first couple of weeks to what you’re doing right now for your ketogenic journey?

Maritza Ahn: I believe the first couple of weeks I was like everybody else, counted every macro, made sure I was at 20 grams, 25 grams. Ate the perfect amount of fat, the perfect amount of protein, and I kind of kept it there, which was great but I started getting the sleepless nights. I started getting really heavy insomnia and my husband would tell me, “Just sit down.” I couldn’t get myself to calm down, which I discovered later on that just because I needed to incorporate a little more carbs, and I kind of just, out of experimenting with my own body, I realized that I could go one day and have about 60 to 70 grams of extra carbs, and within 15 hours of having that big meal I would test my blood and I was back in ketosis.

So, I slowly started incorporating more carbs. I would start by having maybe higher carbs every about three days, and I felt like my nerves were calming down a little bit. After that, I wasn’t as jittery and I was having better sleep once I started doing that. The heavy restriction, I think I kept the heavy restriction for about two to three months and then I started slowly easing in with more carb ups. Instead of once a week of a carb up, I started incorporating about two to three depending. Then I would essentially leave all my carb ups for the end part of the week when my husband wanted to go out to dinner.

My husband is Korean descent, so eating rice is essential part of his life. It’s just what we do, and we noticed that white rice doesn’t do much to me, so we would have our Korean meals once a week, and I would still be fine. Now, in a day, I don’t count macros anymore, but I roughly estimate I eat between 75 to 80 grams of carbohydrates, and I’m in ketosis the next day. It’s the beauty of being fat adapted. My body just always wants to return back to fat regardless of what I do.

Leanne Vogel: Where you a little bit upset when you started doing carb ups and you realized that you could get away with it. I know when I realized that I could do this carb up practice and still be in ketosis, I was like “Why didn’t anyone tell me this? Are you kidding me right now?” Were you a little bit upset at the process?

Maritza Ahn: I was because I had been restricting for so long, I had been living off of spinach and kale for so many months, and eating pretty much the same meals because I didn’t want to screw up my macros. And when I just finally let go and said, “Screw this,” and started eating a little bit more sweet potato and some carrots in my meal, and having, even indulging … Oh, my goodness I had a little bit of apple on top of my salad, and the next day I would test my blood, and I didn’t even have to test my blood, I could feel it in my mouth that I was already back.

I was like everywhere that I had read, nobody ever told me that you could pretty much go back keto after being fat adapted. So, yeah that was upsetting that I could enjoy more variety of food besides just the greens. Because I’m a very firm believer that I need a variety of food in my life to be happy. I can’t just be hardcore and stick to those 25 grams because you know your quality of life really goes down. Even though you’re feeling great, you’re always kind of ticked off that you can’t eat everything. That was pretty much the feeling.

Leanne Vogel: You mentioned a couple of times testing your ketones and knowing that you were either in ketosis or not based on the feeling in your mouth. Were there any other feelings that you have when you know maybe … I’m sure there’s been a time when you ate too many carbs in your carb up, and you’re like, “Ah, shoot.” What did that feel like? I guess that’s a good place to start.

Maritza Ahn: You know, it feels like you’re hung over the next day of eating … if I had way too many carbs. I’m not talking about alcohol carbs, I’m just talking I had way too much sweet potato and potato all together. I wake up extremely swollen, and I’m immediately hungry in the morning, and I know that one. I’m really hungry in the morning, I’m swollen, I’m puffy, and eventually it takes me an extra day to kind of get that feeling that I’m in ketosis. I know the feeling because I’m always thirsty when I’m in ketosis. I have that type of … the keto breath that you’re always rocking and again not being hungry. That’s my biggest things. When I’m in ketosis, I’m just not hungry. It’s hard to force anything in my mouth before 12 pm, and then that’s even just like pushing it. I could probably go to 2:00. If I’m really busy I don’t eat anything until 2:00 when I’m in ketosis.

Leanne Vogel: Which is the best, most freeing thing ever.

Maritza Ahn: Absolutely.

Leanne Vogel: We talked a little bit about your carb up practice. For you, how many carbs do you normally eat during your carb up?

Maritza Ahn: It really just depends on how I’m feeling. Sometimes I go as high as 100, 150. It just really depends. Sometimes if I know I’m going to be going out with friends, or we’re going to be going to dinner, I hoard my carbs for that night. But, on an average, I think I go an extra 60 to 80 carbs on a carb up.

Leanne Vogel: What are your go-to carb up options? You chatted a little bit about it, but I’m sure people want to hear it again.

Maritza Ahn: Sweet potato is my big one. It kind of gives me that nice starchy feeling. I also do a lot of daikon. I love radishes. The starchy things like jicama make me go to my happy place, especially. I can tolerate some fruits. Some fruits don’t make me feel like I’m hung over. Apples is definitely one of them that I can handle, as well as berries. I’m big on treating myself, if I do a carb up, like kind of a mock berry parfait. It gives me the feeling that I’m having something naughty when it’s really not.

That’s usually my biggest carb ups. Then, I have tried some more of those high-carb, no grain pastas, which are great, that are pretty much mostly almond flour, or coconut flour. That and a big coconut flour naan bread, that is another one that puts me in my happy place. It give me this sensation that I’m having naan with my Indian food.

Leanne Vogel: I love it. How long were you fat adapted? You chat a lot about, “Now that I’m fat adapted, I can go back and forth, burn the carbs, go back to the fat.” I’ve definitely noticed the same thing because of my ketogenic experience. I did keto for six months so hardcore, like just hardcore before I entertained carb ups. I know that you don’t need to wait that long but what was your process like? Like how long did it take you until you started practicing carb ups?

Maritza Ahn: I think I was so focused on just like … I think after you have a baby, even more so than being healthy, you really want to get into those jeans. I was a little obsessive in the beginning, and I don’t think I started practicing carb ups after about four or five months because I started feeling sick. In the sense that I wasn’t feeling right. At first I was like, “Wow, this is amazing, this is awesome,” but I think once your body burns through all the excess sugar you have in your body, then you feel like you need something.

When I noticed that I needed to do the carb ups was when I was just on my third cup of coffee a day, and I usually only have one. About four or five months afterwards I started doing carb ups and noticed night and day and everything, how I was feeling. I was sleeping better. My hair stop falling out and I just started getting these … started getting all my baby hairs coming out again. That’s pretty much the timeframe.

Leanne Vogel: Yeah, and to be noted, like your body was fat adapted by that time. It was burning fat as energy for probably months. It’s quite interesting, often times when you hear that experience, you’re like, “Oh, well you just didn’t eat keto long enough.” But I mean at four months, you should be pretty ketogenic at that point. And that’s one of the reasons I waited so long to eat carbs, it’s because I was afraid that I hadn’t waited long enough to start feeling the benefits of ketosis.

I think if every day you’re waking up and you’re just not feeling quite right, you need to really listen to your body and it’s good that you like took a step back and were like, “Wait a minute, I don’t know about this.”

More on my interview with Maritza after this message from one of our podcast partners.

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Now, because your goal initially was weight loss, and what’s been that kind of transition with carb ups because I know the fear that a lot of people have with carb ups is, “Yeah, but I’m going to eat carbs and then I’m going to get ‘fat.’” What was you experience with that?

Maritza Ahn: It was hard because it was the, “I don’t want to get out of ketosis. The only way I’m going to burn fat is if I’m still burning ketones.” During the first six months, besides wanting to lose weight, and by the depression I needed kind of to do a lot of soulful searching and I forced myself to eat carbs. Because I’m very much the all or nothing type of girl. I was very much fearful that once I started eating carbs, I was just going to let it all go again, and just go back to my vicious cycle of binging and purging. I was definitely fearful of that because I did want to go … fall back into that cycle and it definitely took a lot of courage. I think I started off small when I did my carb ups.

I started off just putting some carrots into my sauté and putting a little bit of sweet potato and I started off kind of just baby steps until I felt more comfortable and realized that carb ups are not doing much to me. They’re not affecting my weight loss, they’re just helping me feel better. That was pretty much it.

Leanne Vogel: I guess overcoming that fear like you were saying, it’s just baby steps. Like start off small, it doesn’t need to be huge. For a lot of people listening, it’s not like when you commit to something, you need to do it. I think we have this all or nothing mentality. Of like, “Yeah, but if I commit to carb ups, then I have to do them.” Well, if you don’t like them, you don’t have to do them and if you’re feeling great, don’t do them.

It’s just a tool that you can use on your ketogenic diet if you’re not feeling optimal to see how you could feel better. How do your carb ups look like now than they did when you first started. Have there been any differences, benefits that you’ve seen. I know you’ve touched on a couple of the benefits. Anything that is momentously different?

Maritza Ahn: I think one of the difference now that you notice on my carb ups is that I’ve been experimenting … usually I’m almost 99% of the time grain-free, but I experimented for example with white rice, and I tested just out of curiosity the next day. Really my blood sugars were not spiked at all with the white rice, and I know there’s been so much … it’s like huge controversies sometimes to have the grains, but I have been testing and for example, if I go over to my mom’s house and she’s making tacos, I’m not going to offend the entire group. I will have one and that’s pretty much how I’ve decided to live my life.

I’ve decided to live, you know my normal life is I am keto, I don’t touch grains, but if I go out with my family, and I’m not going to be the obnoxious girl that’s not going to touch anything. I think that’s the big difference now than before. Before I was like, “No, I’m not going out. I’m cooking all my meals at home. I’m not going to enjoy my life. I’m not going to go on date night.” I just realized that that was not realistic in the long term for me. Personally, it wasn’t just realistic. I like to go out. I like to enjoy my meals and I like to explore food.

As long as I’m not allergic to it, or it doesn’t cause severe inflammation, I will try it, and then jump on the horse the next day and be fine.

Leanne Vogel: Yeah, I think that there’s a lot of fear and you touched on it too. Of that fear that comes and you’re like, “Okay, but I’m keto,” and I think with anything, it’s like when I was vegan, the fact that I wanted honey so bad and I knew that I couldn’t have it because I was vegan, and I felt so guilty, when I’d have honey, and it just happened once because I couldn’t even handle the guilt that I had. Because I’m like, “I’m not vegan anymore.” It was so hard for me and I think regardless of what eating style you resonate with, if you’re following somebody else’s protocol or something … I know that I had a lot of fear about like, but vegans don’t eat honey, therefore, I don’t eat honey.

It’s really about finding something that works for you. Do you work out at all or move your body. Do you work out or exercise in any way?

Maritza Ahn: I do. I used to be a marathon runner, long distance running. When we moved it was just because the weather, it was just really impossible to get out there. I discovered Bikram Yoga which I absolutely love and Pilates and those are my go-to. I think more of the yoga is more of a mental release in addition to the physical, but those have been my go-to. I stopped running like a mad woman and just started relaxing and doing exercises that I felt better in and you know besides just running … it was a more mindful practice that I started, especially with my workouts.

Leanne Vogel: Do you use carbs and carb timing for your workouts or do you find that just having a carb up when you feel like it is good enough for you?

Maritza Ahn: Again, I stopped just kind of timing everything because I think it just … in order for me to heal my past obsessions with counting everything, I needed to let go. Whenever I feel like I kind of need a carb up, I do it. Especially, I try to tie my carb ups after a long session. After like a 90-minute yoga session. I usually will have some berries with my dinner or have some apple and that usually calms me down and it just really just sets me off for like fantastic sleep. I found that especially the yoga, doing the yoga for about two to three hours before going to bed, I knock out like a baby. So that has been also great.

Leanne Vogel: That’s nice. Yeah, I know that when I was doing keto for six months. My sleep sucked so bad. And I know, when I don’t listen to my body … last night I went out for dinner with my sister and there were no good carb options and I really felt like I needed carbs. I went on a really long hike and I was dying for carbs. But they just didn’t have anything I wanted. I didn’t have anything, but when I got home, I grabbed my laptop like I normally do. Checked some emails, and then I was up until four o’clock without even noticing.

I’m like shoot, I should have had that carb up. I should have had something even when I got home because I was still craving carbs and I was like, “I’m too lazy, I don’t want to eat.” But it’s amazing. We’re not talking about a lot here, like I don’t pound cupcakes or make a ton of sweet potato, mash and eat cups of it. Sometimes my carb up is … like you said, just an apple, and that’s enough for me.

Were there any more trial and error things that you had to figure out once you got over the fear of eating carbs and started incorporating a carb up practice?

Maritza Ahn: I think I kind of went through everything and kind of tested things out, because I wanted to really kind of understand what my body went through on a carb up. I tested all the foods. I tested all different kinds of fruits. I even tested myself, how do I handle smoothies which are not good for me. I can’t handle a smoothie. I started eating everything nonstop, if I have too much fruit sugars. I think that was the biggest thing.

I started off small and then I started eating different types of like root vegetables and kind of testing how I felt the next day, and that was the biggest indicator. If I would have a big thing of parsnips and the next day I would wake up completely swollen and feeling hungry, then I knew I needed to either back off on the amount that I ate or just eliminate it altogether. And I know this is a kind of difficult for people to hear but, but you kind of just have to be your own guinea pig and test everything out.

That was the fearful thing because in testing things out, I would … you knock yourself a little bit out of ketosis for maximum of two days. But I had to be willing to do this because if I decided this is a lifestyle that I was going to be doing for a long run, it wasn’t going to be just to lose the last pounds, it was going to be for the rest of my life because I just feel so much better on ketosis than I do on carbs. I mean my digestion, I can immediately tell when I eat a bad carb, my stomach starts talking to me, it starts telling me no. So it is a lot of trial and error, but it’s definitely worth it to experiment with pretty much your grocery store and see what works and what doesn’t work.

Leanne Vogel: Yeah, my favorites … What are your favorite carb ups? I know we chatted about a little bit, but like some of my favorites are cassava cooked in my instant pot with some lemon. I just love that so much. What else? Oh, I really love smashed potatoes, so like cooking potatoes and a little bit of fat. What are some of your favorite like carb up, other than the sweet potato because we chatted about this, but how do you even prepare the sweet potato?

Maritza Ahn: I’m kind of the traditional type girl, I like just like it soft and steamed with a little bit of either coconut oil or I even drizzle a little bit of like truffle oil on that, if I have a good bottle or even grass-fed butter is fantastic to me. I love cassava. Cassava is my go to for pretty much everything. I even incorporate little bit of carb ups if I’m doing some kind of sauce and I thought a couple of tablespoons with the cassava to thicken it up. I sneak in some extra carbs that way. I make cassava tortillas which are fantastic, as well as I already mentioned the naan bread which is to die for.

Sometimes people look at my meals and I’m having a carb up and it really doesn’t look like I’m having a carb up, but because I’m having for example like chicken thighs in a coconut cream sauce masala style. So you know just having the extra tomato sauce in there with some naan bread on the side with some broccoli. It doesn’t really look like I’m having a carb up, but it is quite a carb up to have.

So those are my go to, like I mentioned all of almond flour pasta is another one that just gives me the sensation that I’m eating some pasta. And sometimes I just do carb ups with a lot vegetables. Sometimes I’m just craving the root vegetables, so carrots with parsnips and some red onions in the oven are one of my favorites for carb ups

Leanne Vogel: Do you reduce the amount of fat in your meal when you’re doing a carb up or do you kind of just like “Screw it, I’m going to have what I want when I have it?”

Maritza Ahn: I know I should probably be a little more strategic about balancing my fat oils when I’m having the carb up, but I think naturally when I’m having those carb ups, I don’t necessarily feel like I crave the fat too much, so I’m not like dousing my parsnips in a bunch of coconut oil, I really don’t put anything extra.

Then one of the things during the entire time I’ve been in keto, I don’t necessarily add a whole bunch of tablespoons of extra fat to anything. I just eat a fatty meat to go on the side with it, and that’s kind of how I run my diet. I really don’t add too much extra fat of anything. So I don’t really count the macros that I do, there’s days where I’m like “Screw it, I’m eating everything. I’m eating that baked potato with butter and I’ll do it.

But again and for my own personal struggles, I try not to control too much of things or then it just puts me in a different headspace that I don’t need to be in.

Leanne Vogel: More of my interview with Maritza after this message from one of our podcast partners.

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How has … We’ve chatted a little bit about your keto experience and how Fat Fueled has helped and how carb ups have helped. Thank you so much for sharing your story and all of that. What do you feel is missing in the ketogenic space, specifically for women?

Maritza Ahn: Honestly, I think a lot more research and data. I feel like all the research that I found for ketogenics and success stories and you know scientific research that has been running has been done all on men. How men do fantastic when they fast for 24 hours, and how they feel great on 20 grams. And I kind of feel that there’s not been enough like support for women on a ketogenic diet in terms of carbs.

Again, I’ve released myself from the title of keto, I eat a high fat diet for most of my part of my day, but I just steer clear of titling myself as keto because I almost feel like I’m not completely keto sometimes because I do eat a lot of carbs. But again, I do feel there is just lack of support in long term effects of women being on such low carb diets and how they feel. Again, I honestly feel like every woman is absolutely different.

Some women can probably handle living on really low carbohydrates and be absolutely fine, and some women probably just can’t and I’m one of the women that can’t. I can’t live with that low of carbohydrates immediately. If I fast, if I try to do a 24-hour fast, I can’t sleep at night and I’m shaking and I get really shaky. So I try to just … not. But that’s pretty much it in a nutshell.

Leanne Vogel: Amazing, and is there anything that you wish that somebody would have told you when you first got going about how you could get closer to your body and overcome these fears? It sounds like you’ve made such a huge transition over the last couple of years of not tracking and being kinder to your body. Is there anything that you wish that somebody would have told you before all this happened to try to alleviate some of that pain that you were feeling before?

Maritza Ahn: I think the biggest thing that I wish I would have learned from the beginning is to not title myself as anything. You know before I didn’t want to, you get so locked into titling yourself either as paleo or vegan or keto that you feel like you have to live by those standards. That’s torture, especially for somebody that comes with such a restrictive background.

Once I think, I kind of felt like I wish somebody would have told me in the beginning, it’s okay to live for example mostly ketogenic life and still enjoy everything. And still enjoy grains on occasion and still enjoy food on occasion, and still just go back to that life and just resume normally. I think it would have been an easier transition than me trying to scour the town for restaurants that would have been more keto-friendly or more paleo-friendly from the beginning.

I think yeah, for me the biggest thing was not labeling myself, because that just was too much of restriction. It was freeing once I realized I’m going to eat everything I want, but when I go back to my life, when I go back to my life, when I go back to my normal, I cook keto because that’s what makes my brain happy and that’s what makes me happy.

Leanne Vogel: Amazing. Thank you so much for coming on the show today to share your experience about carbing up and how it works and what you’ve experienced. I know that it’s a fun topic to me, because it’s sort of like breaking all the rules and I love breaking rules and getting away with things and still having the same experience as somebody who’s maybe like struggling through keto and here I am eating carbs and still keto.

And so I just, I really enjoy this topic and I’m sure that a lot of your experience has helped many people kind of maybe play around with the idea of trying out a carb up and if it feels good, continuing on with that and kind of busting through some of the fears that can come with that. So yeah, thanks so much for coming on the show today Maritza, I really appreciate it.

Maritza Ahn: No, thanks for having me. It’s been my pleasure.

Leanne Vogel: The show notes and full transcript for today’s episode can be found at HealthfulPursuit.com/podcast/e45 and the transcript is added to the post about three to five days following the initial air date of this episode.

That does it for another episode of the Keto Diet podcast. Thanks for listening in. You can follow me on Instagram by searching Healthful Pursuit where you’ll find daily keto eats and other fun things and check out all of my keto supportive programs, bundles, guides and other cool things over at healthfulpursuit.com/shop and I’ll see you next Sunday. Bye.

My team and I work on finding the best products that not only have quality ingredients, but care about their customers. It has taken us years to find products with ingredients and integrity that I can stand behind. These brands want to be part of our community, and this blog post is one of the ways we’re sharing their awesomeness. Opinions in this blog post are never ever influenced by the partner. Like, never!

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Hi; I have been catching up on many of your podcasts. I have started on the keto path at the end of December after picking up your book – The Keto Diet. Your tips to transition were great. My challenge is that I am hypothyroid and when I restrict carbs – 35-40g, I really don’t feel well or sleep well. I do not crave carbs or sweets but have not had a significant weight loss (4-6 lbs) in 6 weeks. And that happened in the first three weeks. Any advice?

Hi Cynthia! Your body may well be sensitive to a low-carb diet. I’d suggest a moderate low-carb diet with carb ups each night to see how you feel. In the book, this is called the Daily Fat Burner plan, and you can find more information on page 45!

Leanne, thank you so much for your work! I am obsessed with your podcasts, they’re helpful and fun and light and awesome! This one specially opened up my mind for doing keto right for me. I’ve been o. Lowcarb for almost an year but having been trying a more keto approach for less than 4 months. So in these couple of months I’ve been noticing a little bit of a body hair growth and hair loss, but I thought it was due to stress from end of semester or me pushing to hard on training (Brazilian Jiujitsu) but than I listened to your podcast, everything added up! Had my first carb up last week and it felt great. I’m gonna keep listening to you and trying to adapt keto for me and not the opposite. Thank you again!

Hi!!!
First, your amazing. What your doing has been so beneficial for my life, and I am just sorry I didn’t find you and this community sooner!!!

Something Id really like to go more in depth with is being Keto ( I am practicing the strict keto fat burning profile… it resonates well with me) but!!! I’m an explosive performance athlete. I’ve been experimenting with carb ups… but would love a podcast that targets others like me..and more specifically when to time the carb ups to maximize a work out or competition performance . I am an avid mixed martial artist as well as an avid power lifter turned crossfit. I need help! How much I weigh is the name of the game for MMA, so while losing weight and training, I sometimes suffer from energy depletion…especially with crossfit. My athletic endeavors are an extremely important aspect of my career aspirations ( law enforcement)…so i am wondering if you have any friends or colleagues with cluents or experience working with explosive type athletes. ..I know this is a lot of stuff going on in one comment, haha!!

Praise

Enjoying your gooey St. Louis cake at lunch today. I was a little skeptical when I was making it but it is a-mazing! I chose it because I had all of the ingredients on hand…would make again!!

 Susan

I have struggled with body issues and depression/anxiety since I was a pre-teen. When I became pregnant with my daughter, I made the conscious decision to make myself healthy and did all the “normal” things. It was so restrictive and unnatural for me that I gave it up and gained the weight back. After doing a little more research, I discovered keto. Almost as if it were meant to be, I found Leanne Vogel on Pinterest, who inspired me to find the diet that made me feel good. I’m now nearly 25 pounds lighter, and so much happier! I love my body for the first time.

 Haley

Leanne, I just wanted to thank you for being such a positive influence. I have been loving keto for the past year and a half, but just figured out quite recently that what matters most is that I haven’t been loving myself. I need to get to a place where my worth is not based on a number or what I did or didn’t eat in a day. YOU are helping me with that! I’m learning about myself, what works for me and learning to love myself in the process.

 Amy

I just bought The Keto Diet, and I’m excited to follow your approach. I joined other keto groups and found them to be pushy, with lots of dairy and no exercise. I have been following a Paleo way of eating for a long time now, and your approach will be much better for me. I’m so happy to have found your book and look forward to losing weight and gaining my health back.

 Christine

Leanne is extremely intelligent and hilarious. Fat Fueled is an honest and eye-opening look into using fat to balance the body that anyone can understand and implement for lifelong change. I have already recommended it to everyone that I know!

 Megan

I would like to thank you for website, podcast, You Tube videos, weekly emails, and The Keto Diet Cookbook. I have been keto for about 3 weeks now and I feel like I have a tremendous amount of support from you. I have struggled with my body for years and ever since I found you, I have been rethinking my whole image philosophy. Thank you!

 Kelli

Fat adapting has truly simplified my life and gave me the energy to do what I love! Plus, Leanne’s approach to keto food prep is so effortless. Everything tastes amazing!

 Breana

I just stumbled upon your podcast and every single episode has resonated with me in ways I cannot even believe. I have been feeling pretty alone in my process recently- from my recovery from anorexia to struggling with keto (after having some of the same symptoms you had) and I just want you to know that you have helped me find the answers that I have been searching for.

 M

I have been an endurance athlete for 12 years now, a vegan for 3.5 years, and am now starting my Fat Fueled journey. I have found your recipes immensely helpful as I train for Ironman distance triathlons. I don’t have to eat as much during the workout, and I avoid the horrible gut-bombs and sugar fermentation bloat that so many athletes suffer from. I consider your recipes vital to optimal performance and stalk your website regularly to see what new brilliance shows up!

 Amanda

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Abuse. Bulimia. PTSD. Depression. Anxiety. Orthorexia. Exercise Addiction. Binge Eating. Fear. These words used to define me. Sometimes, they try to overcome my progress, but changing to a keto lifestyle has aided in my FREEDOM from things that debilitated me and robbed my joy. Because of a high fat, low carb lifestyle and becoming grounded in my faith, I am proving that wrong! Thank you for your resources, Leanne!

 Kelsey

Leanne was a breath of fresh air and helped me realize that perfection isn’t necessary or healthy. I finally stepped away from MyFitnessPal, my Fitbit, my Ketonix, my labs, the scale, and actually started to care about what I was missing out on in the pursuit of “optimum health” and achieving a desired thinness. I’m still working on developing relationship with my body, food, fasting, and fitness — it’s a work in progress that I truly think I can achieve thanks to Leanne’s help.

 Ryan

Just want to thank you and tell you how much I appreciate the way you speak and write about health and life! I’m relatively new to keto but have been Paleo-esque for awhile. I came across your name after seeing your books on some Paleo sites and hearing your interviews on other keto and health podcasts. I now look forward to every one of your own podcast episodes and blog and Instagram postings. Thanks for keeping things health oriented with a practical and nourishing approach for women! I love learning from you!

 Sarah

I love the community, supporting a keto diet that works for the individual! I love finally having a space to talk about women on keto. Plus the recipes are amazing!

 Kelsey

After reading Fat Fueled, I’ve found that Leanne is a ball of badassness covered in keto chocolate scrumptiousness and topped with a piece of bacon…and she’s smart!

 Jasmine

I started keto after stumbling across Leanne’s YouTube channel. So far, I’m down 20 pounds in 1.5 months. The best part is I have a ton of energy and no more brain fog! Thank you for all you do!

Third party links are often affiliate-based which means I receive a small percentage of the sale (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for all of your support!

Leanne Vogel has experienced success in using her recipes and keto-based diet. It works with her lifestyle but there are no assurances or representations of any kind made by Leanne Vogel or Healthful Pursuit Inc. that you will attain any success in using the same recipes or adopting a keto-based diet. Healthful Pursuit provides information in respect to healthy living, recipes, nutrition, and diet and is intended for informational purposes only. The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment nor is it to be construed as such. We cannot guarantee that the information provided by Healthful Pursuit reflects the most up-to-date medical research. Information is provided without any representations or warranties of any kind. Please consult a qualified physician for medical advice, and always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding your health and nutrition program.